Energy Separation in Vortex Tubes with a Divergent Chamber

1981 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heishichiro Takahama ◽  
Hajime Yokosawa
Keyword(s):  
Standard Procedure ◽  
Vortex Chamber ◽  
Installation Space ◽  
Energy Separation ◽  
Separation Effect ◽  
Chamber Length ◽  
Temperature Separation ◽  
Higher Temperature ◽  
Large Installation ◽  
Vortex Tubes

The vortex tube is a simple device for separating a compressed gaseous fluid stream into two flows of high and low temperature. In order to produce a high temperature separation effect, the use of a sufficiently long tube with a smooth inner surface has been standard procedure up until now. However, since such a device requires a large installation space, an attempt was made to shorten the length of the vortex chamber without any fall in the temperature separation effect by using some divergent tubes as the vortex chamber. Experimental data obtained in these vortex chambers were compared with those in the commonly used straight vortex chambers. Observation indicates that a divergent tube with a small angle of divergence is effective in obtaining a higher temperature separation and makes possible a shortening of the chamber length.

Investigations of Energy Separation Effect in Vortex Tube for Natural Gases

2013 ◽  
Vol 397-400 ◽  
pp. 205-208
Author(s):  
Wen Chuan Wang ◽  
Xiang Jun Fang ◽  
Shi Long Liu ◽  
Wen Long Sun
Keyword(s):  
Mass Fraction ◽  
Vortex Tube ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Energy Separation ◽  
Separation Effect ◽  
Natural Gases ◽  
Temperature Separation ◽  
Total Temperature ◽  
Cold Mass

This paper aims to investigate fixed composition natural gases including N2, CH4 and C2H4 energy separation effect in vortex tube. Energy separation phenomena of those gases were investigated by means of three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method. Flow fields of natural gases in fixed inlet boundary conditions were simulated. The results main factors were found that affect the energy separation with cold mass fraction being 0.7 and pressure drop ratio being 3.90. At the same time, this paper has illustrated the effects and tendencies of energy separation with gases in the tube under the same cold mass flow fraction and cold pressure ratio. The results show mixture gases total temperature difference effect is unchanged varied with the cold mass fraction; CH4% has no effect on the vortex cold end temperature separation, but varied of CH4% has an influence in total temperature and hot end separation effect; total temperature separation effect of CH4% was divided into two sections, one is0%-80%, and the other 80%-100%.

scholarly journals Numerical Simulation of the Effect of Different Numbers of Inlet Nozzles on Vortex Tubes

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1531
Author(s):  
Qijun Xu ◽  
Jing Xie
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulation ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Gas Flow ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Maximum Velocity ◽  
Vortex Chamber ◽  
Inlet Pressure ◽  
Energy Separation ◽  
Outlet Temperature ◽  
Vortex Tubes

In order to broaden the application of vortex tubes (VOTU) in industry and to improve the efficiency of cooling and heating, numerical simulations of vortex tubes were carried out. In this study, the temperature, velocity, and pressure fields of three VOTUs with inlet nozzles of 2, 3, and 6 were investigated at different inlet pressures based on previous experimental data and by three-dimensional numerical simulation. It was found that the increase of inlet pressure leads to the increase of energy separation between the hot and cold ends of the three VOTUs. As the number of inlets increases, the pressure difference between the tube wall and the core region gradually strengthens. In contrast, the pressure in the tube center is not affected by the inlet pressure. The number of nozzles affects the inlet and outlet temperatures of the VOTU. When the number of nozzles is 3, and the inlet pressure is 0.6 MPa, the VOTU shows the maximum hot and cold outlet temperature difference of 66 K. The maximum velocity of VOTU appears at the connection of the inlet and vortex chamber, so the inlet is tangential to VOTU, which is beneficial to reduce the loss of gas energy. The wall thickness of the inlet increases gradually to avoid the high-speed gas flow on the erosion of the wall surface. This study has profound guidance for the one-dimensional design of VOTUs.

scholarly journals Study on Vortex Tubes : Effect of the Bend of a Vortex Chamber on Energy Separation

1974 ◽  
Vol 17 (108) ◽  
pp. 740-747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heishichiro TAKAHAMA ◽  
Kazuhiko TANIMOTO
Keyword(s):  
Vortex Chamber ◽  
Energy Separation ◽  
Vortex Tubes

scholarly journals Numerical Simulations of Cryogenic Hydrogen Cooling in Vortex Tubes with Smooth Transitions

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1429
Author(s):  
Konstantin I. Matveev ◽  
Jacob Leachman
Keyword(s):  
Vortex Tube ◽  
Vortex Chamber ◽  
Smooth Transition ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Hydrogen Energy ◽  
Temperature Separation ◽  
Valuable Characteristic ◽  
Hydrogen Cooling ◽  
Smooth Transitions ◽  
Vortex Tubes

Improving efficiency of hydrogen cooling in cryogenic conditions is important for the wider applications of hydrogen energy systems. The approach investigated in this study is based on a Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube (RHVT) that generates temperature separation in a working fluid. The simplicity of RHVT is also a valuable characteristic for cryogenic systems. In the present work, novel shapes of RHVT are computationally investigated with the goal to raise efficiency of the cooling process. Specifically, a smooth transition is arranged between a vortex chamber, where compressed gas is injected, and the main tube with two exit ports at the tube ends. Flow simulations have been carried out using STAR-CCM+ software with the real-gas Redlich-Kwong model for hydrogen at temperatures near 70 K. It is determined that a vortex tube with a smooth transition of moderate size manifests about 7% improvement of the cooling efficiency when compared vortex tubes that use traditional vortex chambers with stepped transitions and a no-chamber setup with direct gas injection.

Numerical Investigation of the Thermo-Hydraulic Characteristics for Annular Vortex Tube: A Comparison With Ranque–Hilsch Vortex Tube

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Milad Khosravi ◽  
Meisam Sadi ◽  
Ahmad Arabkoohsar ◽  
Amir Ebrahimi-Moghadam
Keyword(s):  
Mass Fraction ◽  
Vortex Tube ◽  
Secondary Circulation ◽  
Outlet Section ◽  
Separation Performance ◽  
Outlet Temperature ◽  
Hydraulic Characteristics ◽  
Temperature Separation ◽  
Mass Fractions ◽  
Higher Temperature

Abstract In this work, a new configuration of the vortex tubes (VTs), called annular VTs, is proposed to improve the temperature separation performance. In the proposed configuration, a compartment has been added on the top of the tube wall that the separated hot outlet is repassed inside it over the hot tube. An axisymmetric swirl model of the Ranque–Hilsch (RH) and annual VTs is numerically simulated, and the thermo-hydraulic characteristics of them are compared for cold mass fractions ranging 0.2–0.8. The results illustrated that a small secondary circulation is created near the cold outlet of the RHVT that is not observed in the annular model. This secondary circulation is a destructive mechanism in VTs that results in more mixing and higher temperature in the cold outlet section. Analyzing the results indicates that using annular VT causes up to 12.51% increment of the hot outlet temperature compared to the RHVT model (which occurs at a mass fraction of 0.23). Also, up to 9.23% reduction of the cold outlet temperature is occurred (which occurs at a mass fraction of 0.37). These explanations prove the improvement of the annular VT compared to that of the conventional VTs.

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